Caroline Crew

Dear F.M.

There is a history of naming hurricanes after saints. If you want yours

I recommend avoiding martyrs and consider only reference books

that have been burned. Your history of hurricanes is honestly disappointing: they keep

dying at sea. There’s a history of almost anything as long as you make a God to watch it

and also some zealots to take notes. The second biggest tree ever measured

is called the President. The President has two billion leaves.

With their tools no scientist actually numbered these. You are sixth in line

to be top girl. If you want a family hierarchy, respond when the President is properly

counted. None of this refers to an actual namesake setting herself on fire.

That was a time when God wasn’t watching.

Poem In Which I Apologise For Other Poems

Or maybe I should start with the bare facts and admit

I have been defeated more than once by your bathroom.

Warriors don’t ask for much in payment but that isn’t why

I wanted to hire one for your birthday. I thought we’d begin

the evening with a brief overview of bravery

and though there would be no visual aids

the soft sutures could bless your eyelids

with a little extra pep. I have missed one and a half

of your years. I tried not to blink. When have you

ever seen a great soldier with their eyes closed?

It is no good to say language is not a true imprint.

It is no good to sit here with these monstrous instruments

and wish for a song. I am sorry I never got a marching band

to display the real truth of our entrenchment.

Caroline Crew edits ILK journal. Her own poems appear in Forklift, Ohio; PANK; Salt Hill Journal & other places. Often she doesn’t have a home, but currently she lives between Old England & New England.